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Injectable Contraceptives: Tools for Providers |
 
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| December 2006 Issue No. 8 |
The INFO Project • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health • Center for Communication Programs • 111 Market Place, Suite 310 • Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA • 410-659-6300 • 410-659-6266 (fax) • www.infoforhealth.org • infoproject@jhuccp.org | |
More than twice as many women are using injectable contraceptives today as a decade ago, and the numbers keep growing. Women choose injectables because they are highly effective, long-acting, reversible, and private. At the same time many women do not choose injectables or stop using them because of side effects—particularly irregular bleeding, no monthly bleeding, and weight gain—or because they have trouble returning for injections (70, 135, 168). Family planning programs are meeting increasing demand while helping providers to maintain good quality of care. Attention to quality, and to counseling especially, can be the difference between successful and unsuccessful efforts to expand access to injectables (77, 78). Using the tools in this INFO Reports, providers can inform women about injectables and help them be satisfied users.
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 Table 1. Formulations and Injection Schedules of Injectable Contraceptives |
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| Common Trade Names | Formulation | Injection Type and Schedule | |
| Progestin-Only Injectables | |||
| Depo-Provera®, Megestron®, Contracep®, Depo-Prodasone® |
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) 150 mg | One intramuscular (IM) injection every 3 months | |
| depo-subQ provera 104® (DMPA-SC) | DMPA 104 mg | One subcutaneous injection every 3 months | |
| Noristerat®, Norigest®, Doryxas® |
Norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) 200 mg | One IM injection every 2 months | |
| Combined Injectables (progestin + estrogen)1 | |||
| Cyclofem®, Ciclofeminina®, Lunelle®2 | Medroxyprogesterone acetate 25 mg + Estradiol cypionate 5 mg (MPA/E2C) | One IM injection every month | |
| Mesigyna®, Norigynon® | NET-EN 50 mg + Estradiol valerate 5 mg (NET-EN/E2V) | One IM injection every month | |
| Deladroxate®, Perlutal®, Topasel®, Patectro®, Deproxone®, Nomagest® | Dihydroxyprogesterone (algestone) acetophenide 150 mg + Estradiol enanthate 10 mg | One IM injection every month | |
| Anafertin®, Yectames® | Dihydroxyprogesterone (algestone) acetophenide 75 mg + Estradiol enanthate 5 mg | One IM injection every month | |
| Chinese Injectable No. 1® | 17 α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate 250 mg + Estradiol valerate 5 mg | One IM injection every month, except 2 injections in first month | |
| Sources: International Planned Parenthood Federation 2005 (83), Lande 1995 (99), Liggeri 2006 (103), WHO 1990 (204), WHO 1993 (205) 1 Also called monthly injectables. 2 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lunelle, but it is currently not available in the United States. |
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How To Use This Report
Family planning providers can use the checklists and tables in this report to:
- Counsel about injectables or answer clients' questions (see Table 2),
- Identify women who may not be able to use DMPA or NET-EN for medical reasons (see Checklist),
- Be reasonably sure that a woman is not pregnant before giving the first injection (see Checklist, questions 8–13),
- Review the steps required to give an injection safely (see Checklist), and
- Help women be informed and satisfied continuing users of injectables (see Table 3).
This report accompanies Population Reports, "Expanding Services for Injectables". See also Population Reports, "When Contraceptives Change Monthly Bleeding," Series J, No. 54, August 2006.
